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Apple Shares List of Products to Keep Safe Distance Away From Pacemakers
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In a support document updated this week, Apple shared a list of products that should be kept a safe distance away from medical devices, such as implanted pacemakers and defibrillators, due to potential magnetic interference.
To avoid any potential interference with medical devices, Apple says to keep the products listed below a safe distance away from medical devices — more than six inches apart or more than 12 inches apart if the Apple product is wirelessly charging. Apple says to consult with a physician and the device manufacturer for specific guidelines.Certain other Apple products contain magnets that are unlikely to interfere with medical devices, the support document says.
Earlier this month, the American Heart Association said in a small study of different types of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, 11 of 14 cardiac devices experienced interference when an iPhone 12 Pro Max was held close to the cardiac device (within 1.5 cm), even when the medical device was still in the manufacturer's sealed package.
"We have always known that magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices, however, we were surprised by the strength of the magnets used in the iPhone 12 magnet technology," said lead study investigator Dr. Michael Wu, a cardiologist at Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brown University. "In general, a magnet can change a pacemaker's timing or deactivate a defibrillator's lifesaving functions, and this research indicate the urgency for everyone to be aware that electronic devices with magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices."
In January, research shared in the Heart Rhythm Journal indicated that iPhone 12 models can "potentially inhibit lifesaving therapy in a patient" due to magnetic interference with implantable medical devices. Three doctors in Michigan tested this interaction by holding an iPhone 12 near a patient's implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which immediately went into a "suspended" state for the duration of the test.
Since the iPhone 12 lineup launched in October, Apple has acknowledged that the devices may cause electromagnetic interference with medical devices like pacemakers and defibrillators. However, in its updated support document published on June 25, Apple no longer states that iPhone 12 models are "not expected to pose a greater risk of magnetic interference to medical devices than prior iPhone models."
Apple provides more information on safety in the Important Safety Information sections of the user guides for Apple products.
Article Link: Apple Shares List of Products to Keep Safe Distance Away From Pacemakers
Chances are, Apple doesn’t really know what may truly interfere with what medical devices, so to CYA, they’re listing everything under the Sun. Very corporate thing to do.
But surely not several-decades-more-care … ! Even with medical equipment you should make _some_ progress eventually. Otherwise you risk falling behind and ignoring the benefits of modern technology.
Or would you prefer to still carry your pacemaker battery around outside of your body, just because some developer overdid it with „a lot more care“?
USB C solves the problem.
In a support document updated this week, Apple shared a list of products that should be kept a safe distance away from medical devices, such as implanted pacemakers and defibrillators, due to potential magnetic interference.
To avoid any potential interference with medical devices, Apple says to keep the products listed below a safe distance away from medical devices — more than six inches apart or more than 12 inches apart if the Apple product is wirelessly charging. Apple says to consult with a physician and the device manufacturer for specific guidelines.Certain other Apple products contain magnets that are unlikely to interfere with medical devices, the support document says.
Earlier this month, the American Heart Association said in a small study of different types of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, 11 of 14 cardiac devices experienced interference when an iPhone 12 Pro Max was held close to the cardiac device (within 1.5 cm), even when the medical device was still in the manufacturer's sealed package.
"We have always known that magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices, however, we were surprised by the strength of the magnets used in the iPhone 12 magnet technology," said lead study investigator Dr. Michael Wu, a cardiologist at Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brown University. "In general, a magnet can change a pacemaker's timing or deactivate a defibrillator's lifesaving functions, and this research indicate the urgency for everyone to be aware that electronic devices with magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices."
In January, research shared in the Heart Rhythm Journal indicated that iPhone 12 models can "potentially inhibit lifesaving therapy in a patient" due to magnetic interference with implantable medical devices. Three doctors in Michigan tested this interaction by holding an iPhone 12 near a patient's implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which immediately went into a "suspended" state for the duration of the test.
Since the iPhone 12 lineup launched in October, Apple has acknowledged that the devices may cause electromagnetic interference with medical devices like pacemakers and defibrillators. However, in its updated support document published on June 25, Apple no longer states that iPhone 12 models are "not expected to pose a greater risk of magnetic interference to medical devices than prior iPhone models."
Apple provides more information on safety in the Important Safety Information sections of the user guides for Apple products.
Article Link: Apple Shares List of Products to Keep Safe Distance Away From
No, you don't. All devices with magnets and magnetic charging pose a danger. That's why companies make a list of them.
Sure, all you have to do is make a pacemaker out of heart tissue instead of, you know, machinery.
Well, duh! All my life I remember seeing warnings to keep things that put out RF away from pacemakers. Game consoles, walkie talkies, cell phones. You have to be living under a rock (or never had read the safety warnings on devices you use daily) to be unaware that these things could cause issues with pacemakers.
And it’s not like these products are completely unsafe for people with pacemakers to use, they just need to make sure they don’t operate the device immediately near the torso/heart.
Seriously dude, it was the second paragraph of the article you're commenting on:
"To avoid any potential interference with medical devices, Apple says to keep the products listed below a safe distance away from medical devices — more than six inches apart or more than 12 inches apart if the Apple product is wirelessly charging. Apple says to consult with a physician and the device manufacturer for specific guidelines."
My mom just had a pacemaker installed two weeks ago, they told her to keep all electronics 12 inches from her pacemaker.
Magnetic forces on a pacemaker are based on strength of the individual magnets and proximity, not quantity. As long as you don't roll across the tables on top of the devices, you're fine.
Technically a negative distance would be behind you! Magnets three feet (or let’s round it up to a meter) in front of you have the same potential as those three feet (or ~meter) behind you.Products to Keep Safe Distance Away From Pacemakers
Poor wording? Poor thought patterns?
It is self-evident and obvious beyond needing a comment that everything needs to be kept a safe distance away. The issue is what that safe distance is. One femtometre? A metre? A kilometre? Well, at least make sure it is not a negative distance...
I think the usual recommendation is > 6 inches (15 centimeters) or maybe > 10 inches (25 centimeters).
Edit: Looks like it’s 12 inches (equivalent to a foot, or 30 centimeters).
My thought was distance from actual pacemaker regardless direction - with a (small) negative distance implying inside it.
You're just wrong. Just plain wrong. It has nothing to do with support for Apple.
All electronic devices and all magnetic devices can interfere with a pacemaker. Period. My mother is currently in a rehab hospital after pacemaker surgery. Know what she can't have near her pacemaker? Anything. That includes THE DEVICE THAT WIRELESSLY TRANSMITS DATA TO HER DOCTOR FROM HER PACEMAKER. It has to be more than a foot from her.
Your dad can't have magnets near his heart. Period. Any magnet. That means that the Earth has designed things to kill your dad. That means a refrigerator magnet can kill your dad. That means that a pair of headphones can kill your dad. That means that cordless phones, electric razors, hand held massagers, all cell phones, all Bluetooth devices, all "magnetic wants used in the game of bingo" all cordless power tools, all drills, all lawn mowers, all leaf blowers, all remote controls using UFH, all shop tools, all SLOT MACHINES, all snow blowers, all CB and police radios, and ALL MOTORS IN ALL CARS, all body fat machines, all jackhammers, all stun guns, all MRI machines, all car battery charges, all motor ignitor systems, all air compressors, all jumper cables, all welding equipment, can kill your dad.
Using household appliances and tools
Your pacemaker is designed to work properly around most appliances and tools. However, strong electromagnetic interference (EMI) from some appliances and tools may affect how your pacemaker works.
www.bostonscientific.com
Medtronic Cardiac Devices EMC Guide - Tools and Industrial Equipment
We are committed to transforming healthcare by working with new partners, in new ways. How far can we go to help change healthcare?
www.medtronic.com
If you dad has a pacemaker, he will have to maintain precautions around all electronic devices. Always. Forever. If he buys something called MagSafe, he should not put that within six inches of his pacemaker, in the same way that if he bought a drill, he can't bend over the drill while drilling a surface.
If your doctors have not communicated to him that magnets and electricity will cause complications if held directly against his pacemaker, then they are the ones that might kill your dad.
There are 3 million pacemaker wearers around the world (estimate from 2017). There are 7 billion people. That means that just .375% of the earth's population can be affected by the use of any of these things listed above, if kept closer than 6-12 inches from the heart.
So who cares about the convenience? Is it better for the rest of the 7.8 billion people to not have wireless charging in any cell phone model (that's a series of magnetic coils) than for 3 million people to just remember to not use them against their chest? Is is better for the 7.8 billion people in the planet to not have power tools, bluetooth, any cordless phone, engines in their cars for 3 million people who just have to remember to not hold them against their chest? Is it better for those 3 million people to not have wireless transmitters for their pacemakers, so that they don't have to remember to not use their pacemaker's wireless data-transmitting device close to their pacemaker?
12 inches for the ones with MagSafe, closer for others. Which his the same safe distance for most electric items. https://www.bostonscientific.com/en...ker/using-household-appliances-and-tools.html
The article indicates that "close" is less than 1.5cm - or abt 0.6 of an inch. Basically don't put your iPhone in a shirt pocket over a heart device - or any other Apple product listed. I'm waiting for a Dexcon C6 (due any day), but that fits on the belly and won't get close to my iPhone or iPad.
If you get "close" to a dangerous situation you'll probably see Less Prevention hovering over you. Just don't rub an iPad over your chest.
There is already a dissolving pacemaker. Only metal seems to be a couple of wires.
And susceptibility to interference can be considerably reduced by simply twisting the wires!
If I was a patient I would want the most robust solution since my life would be depending on it.
Define “robust“. And would you be willing to sacrifice some quality of life or functionality for a higher robustness?
Given that you cannot predict what products Apple and other companies will come up with next, it is their (Apple's) responsibility to ensure that they do not interfere with existing pacemakers; not the pacemaker companies responsibility to predict what sort of device interference might be around years after their products are fitted.
That doesn’t seem very logical. “Whoever built the first thing is immune from ever improving it, and every invention thereafter must take it into consideration.”
Putting aside the fact that - despite the quote marks - that is neither what I said nor implied; are you seriously suggesting that everyone should have their pacemakers replaced every time Apple (or any other company) brings out a new product that might interfere with them?
Life is more nuanced than your black-and-white approach. Nobody asked to have pacemaker companies replacing their products everytime a new tech Gadget comes to market.
It is perfectly reasonable, however, to ask them to get rid of decades old tech and start to adjust to a new normal. Today, magnets and electrical interference are way more common and ubiquitous than in the 1960‘s, when they invented the basis of their current products, which they have modernized at only glacial speeds ever since!
Just because pacemakers were invented first doesn’t mean their design is ‘better’.
Magnets and electrical interference has been around just as long a pacemakers and it wouldn’t hurt if they were made more robust.